


Of Sheep and Storms

by RegalMisfortune



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Bee-Keeper!Xephos, Dragon AU, Dragon!Kirin, Or AU in which Kirin is a dragon, Owl-Keeper!Lomadia, Shepherd!Nilesy, Tinkerer!Lalna, although that's quite obvious since I mentioned it like three times already
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-17
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-13 10:15:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3377744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RegalMisfortune/pseuds/RegalMisfortune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An Anon on Tumblr asked: Sudden Short Request: Unusual Dragon Hoards!Kirin has a fondness for sheep. The villages he takes them from assume he eats them, but he's too nice for that. Instead, he has flocks of friendly mountain sheep- no one knows how he got them to cooperate.</p><p>Ask and ye shall receive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Sheep and Storms

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how to do line breaks, so if you see a giant gap between two paragraphs that's a line break.  
> Also I wrote this immediately after I got the request and posted it without a good read through because I'm an idiot, so there's probably some grammar/spelling errors. I apologize for that.
> 
> All in all, I really just love this idea and I want to hug the person who requested it to death because holy crapper cakes, this is an amazing thing to think about.

Thunder rolled across the darkening heavens as the wind whipped through the pastures, tearing leaves off of the occasional bush or tree. An unfortunate shepherd gripped onto his crook as if his life depended on it, his knuckles paling to a shade similar to that of several of his flock as the wind buffeted his frame.

“It wasn’t supposed to storm today!” the young man lamented as he tapped a straggling ewe with the end of his crook, his free hand gripping to his thin coat in vain hopes to keep the storm’s icy fingers from stealing away the remainder of his heat. He didn’t understand- he had asked all around the village before he left with the flock, and no one called for a storm. Lomadia’s wise owls or Xephos’ flitting bees or even the crazy tinkerer Lalna’s wild gizmos pointed to any bad weather. On the contrary, the forecast from all three sources claimed for a bright sunny day- or several days according to Lalna.

The young shepherd worried his lower lip as he urged his flock to hurry in the direction of the village, although it was a vain hope as home was several miles away and far from sight. He remembered seeing a small crevice cut into the otherwise smooth, gentle wave of hills not too long ago, and he prayed to the gods that he could get his flock over there before the skies let loose their contents. However, sheep were fickle things, and the sudden onset of the storm had made them skittish, their worried bleating drowned out by the howling wind. 

A thought tickled the back of the shepherd’s mind, a rumor he heard from merchants who came from distance towns and villages. They all bore a similar tale, one of a monstrous beast with great black wings streaked with the crackling of lightning that snatched up sheep amongst the chaos of storms. It only took sheep- and goats if it could get its claws on them, as goats were rare in these parts- but it never took anything else like cows or pigs or princesses like in the stories he was read to as a child. Of course when he first heard the tales he went straight to Lomadia in a panic.

“Don’t be silly, Nilesy,” the blond owl-keeper had said, her back turned as she tended to a snowy. “Dragons don’t live around here. They are drastically exaggerating to scare you. If there were any dragons Mr. Owl or Hedwig would’ve spotted them from miles away.”

Nilesy hadn’t thought about the rumors since then, as Lomadia was very knowledgeable and if she said there weren’t any dragon about, then there weren’t. Yet now all the shepherd could feel was that of a stone sinking in his stomach as he urged his flock onward.

A brilliant light rippled in the clouds above, the bright electric blue-white arcing across the contours of the black skies. It was followed by an ear-splitting rumble that the young shepherd felt vibrate through his entire body, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to rise.

Naturally the sheep had been spooked.

Frantic bleating sounded before the thunder even ended, the woolen bodies slipping and slamming into one another in panic. Nilesy waved his crook about him, desperate in keeping the flock together, but a charcoal grey ram escaped the frenzied herd and darted away in the opposite direction of where he was supposed to go.

The young man cursed quietly under his breath, his eyes flickering quickly from the flock to the runaway sheep during a split second decision before he chased after the ram. He was fast enough to at least redirect the sheep in the correct direction.

Nilsey barely made it two steps before the skies above him darkened unnaturally so. A gust of wind buffeted him with such strength that it knocked him off his feet and caused him to stumble to the earth. The wind sounded strange, almost like one of Lomadia’s owls taking flight, only a hundred times larger.

The shepherd snapped his head up to stare skyward, his eyes widening in fear as he took in the sight before him.

It was a massive beast, larger than a house or even a mansion. Its wings were as dark as the clouds above them, wide and feathery in a similar design of a bird of prey, only numerous times greater than any eagle he had seen. Sparks of static rippled across its body, panting its stormy feathers and inky scales with eccentric arcs of electric blues and brilliant whites. Its hind legs resembled that of a goat- a massive, powerful god of goats it must’ve stolen them from, while its front feet reminded him of one of Lomadia’s owls with talons to match. A powerful tale, long and whip-like was tipped with more blackened feathers. Yet it was its head that was the most startling. Its head was massive just like the rest of the beast, narrowed into a muzzle much like some sort of strange horse, yet its teeth were sharpened like daggers. It had five eyes; a pair where they normally would sit, two right under those, and one dead center of its forehead- all of them the same vibrant, electric blue to match the electricity that jumped across its dark body. Strips of fur and feathers lined the sides of its massive jaws, curling up to its ears. It had two sets of horns- one like a ram that was set just above its tufted ears, the other shooting out of the top of its head in the form of antlers and both matched the color of its eyes to give its black body a splash of dangerous color.

His heart was in his throat as the shepherd watched, scared stiff and helpless as the massive beast descended from the heavens like a terrifying angel of death and lightning, its talons stretching out as it plucked the fleeing ram from the ground as one would carefully pick a flower. It beat its enormous wings, the winds nearly blowing Nilesy back into the earth and he could hear some of his flock crying out as they tumbled off their feet by the breeze. He could do nothing but watch as the creature ascended, its wings brushing against the bottoms of the clouds as it disappeared towards the dark horizon in the direction of the mountains leagues away.

A droplet of water splattered into the shepherd’s dark locks, but it did little to stir him from his awe and terror. “So… that was it, then,” he murmured breathlessly, still staring in the direction of which the beast had left by. “The KirinDrake…”

  


The mountains were in sight before the dragon began to slow, ceasing Its beats of Its feathers in favor of letting the wind take sail of its wings. The sheep within Its clutches had stopped bleating, but It could feel the creature’s panicked breathing and frantic heart hammering away within its chest- the poor thing. It didn’t mean to take the smaller animal so forcibly in a way to startle it so, but soon the ram will know fear no more.

The beast soared over the rocky faces of the mountains, taking time to scan the land for any signs of intruders onto Its territory. The two-legs had yet to dare attempt to climb the peaks, not since the last expedition many years ago ended so badly. It was, after all, Its territory, and It didn’t let just anything wander through.

The dragon crested over the last peak, dipping downward into the deep green of the valley nestled between the ranges. Its lips curled upward to expose sharp teeth as It circled around a favorite splash of grass and alpine flowers before coming in for a landing. It was awkward landing on three feet instead of four, as It was careful not to jostle Its travel companion more so than it already had been. It didn’t let go of the ram, instead lifted Its head and letting out a deep rumble that resounded much like a small roll of thunder.

The landscape around them began to move and dance with color as sheep and goats alike began to pop out of every nook and cranny around the valley and on the nearby mountainsides, hoofs clicking on stone and thumping on the soft earth as the many wooly creatures bounded towards the dragon, bleating and calling out in their form of greeting. The beast slowly lowered the ram in Its clutches towards the ground, letting its feet touch the earth but keeping hold of it to keep the willy creature from darting away in a panic. The other sheep came close to investigate and greet the new member of their flock, their little tails wriggling and their ears flapping as they introduced themselves to the ram. Its heart was steadying out, and it didn’t seem like it was going to run away anytime soon, not with new friends and places to explore. The dragon gently let go, letting the sheep stagger on its own four feet before righting itself. It watched with amusement as the ram mingled with the rest of the flock, settling Itself down on the warm grass to observe Its living hoard.

It may not let just anything onto Its territory, but sheep and goats were always welcome.


End file.
